Railway-rail joint.



No. 700,7l4. Patented May 20, |902.

, F. C. ANDERSON.

RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.

(Application led Mar. 13, 1901.)

lll;

(No Model.)

IIN

UNITED STATES FRANK C. ANDERSON, OF CINCINNATI,

GEORGE XV. ZAPF AND GOODLOW PATENT Carien.

RAILWAY-RAIL JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Application filed March 13,1901.

Patent NO. 700,714, dated May 20, 1902.

Serial No. 50,990. lNo model.)

To a/ZZ wiz/ont it may concern:

Be it known that l, FRANK C. ANDERSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and Stater of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-RailJoints, of which the following is a full,elear, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this ospecification.

My invention. relates to improvements in joints for the meeting ends ofrailway-rails whereby the rail is held absolutely tight and is preventedfrom working loose at the joint and is rendered practically continuousand stronger at the joints than it is at any other point in the track,the whole forming a simple, cheap, and efficient joint tending greatlyto increase the safety of travel and permit zo high speeds.

The novelty of my invention will be hereinafter more fully set forth,and specifically pointed out in the claims. Y

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a sectional end view through arail and through my improved joint which is applied thereto. Fig. 2 is adiminished side elevation of two rails at their abutting ends with myimproved joint applied thereto. Fig. 3

3o is a broken perspective view, enlarged, of the base wedge-plate. Fig.4 is a sectional end view through a grooved top rail with a wide web,-such as are commonly used for streetrailways, showing the application ofAmy in- 3 5 vention applied thereto at the joint.

The same letters of reference are used to indicate identical parts inall the iigures.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, A represents an ordinary T-rail of the usualor any suitable 4o construction, of which a is the vertical web, b thedouble iiange or foot, and c the head or tread piece. Embracing eachside of two abutting rails at the joint is a rolled-steel fish plate B,having a footpiece d iitting snugly upon the top sides of thefoot-flanges.

b and extending outward beyond the same with lower inturned ends e,whose upper sides are beveled, as seen at f, the angles of said bevels,of the bevels of the tops of the foot- 5o flanges, and the bevels on theunder sides of the head of the rail being all the same.

Fitted in between the bottom extensions of the footpieces e and thebottom of the foot of the rail and extending the entire length of thelfootpieces of the fish-plates is a base wedge-plate C, whose uppersurface is corrugated or channeled longitudinally, as seen at g, for thedouble purpose of carrying off moisture and reducing the frictionalcontact between the top of the base-plate and the under side of the footof the rail. One edge of the base-plate has an upwardly-projectingiiange 7L, which bears against the edge of the footpiece of the rail, asseen in Fig. l, or instead of a continuous flange a series lofupwardly-projecting lugs might answer the same purpose. The oppositeedge of the wedge-plate C has its outer corners bent down, as seen att', Figs. 2 and 3, to overlap and engage the ends of the footpiece e,there- 7o by securely locking the base Wedge-piece to the footextensions of the sh-plates to prevent its endwise movement ordisengagement therefrom, as will be readily understood. The bottom sideof the wedge-piece does not extend below the bottom sides of thefootpieces e, as seen in Fig. l, thus permitting a level seat for thefootpieces on the ties Without cutting out for the wedge-piece. As seenin Fig. l, considerable clearance is left be- 8o tween the vertical webof the rail and the inner sides of the fish-plates and also considerableclearance, as -at j, between the outer edges of the footpiece b and thesockets in the footpieces d e, so that in applying the ordinaryclamping-bolts D, which extend through the fish-plates and the verticalWeb of the rail, a verytight and wedging union can be effected betweenall the parts to bind them securely together, and in case of wear 9o orcorrosion the same may be readily taken up by tightening up the bolts D.Ordinary spikes 7c are driven through slots Z in the edges of thefootpieces d e and into the ties E to securely lock the fish-plates andtheir footpieces to the track.

In the application of my joint Iflrst apply the base Wedge-plate C andthen the lefthand sh-plate of Fig. l-that is to say, kthe one adjacenttothe fiange h of thewedge- Ioo plate-and drive it toward the rail astightly I then apply the opposite shas possible.

plate and its footpieces and drive it inward toward the rails and thenapply the bolts D and tighten up their nuts and finally drive the spikesk, thus forming a very strong and rigid joint for the meeting ends ofthe rails, which is cheap in construction and easy of application.

In Fig. 4; I have shown. the application of my invention forstreet-railway rails having grooved treads and in which the web isconsiderably Wider than in railway-rails, and under this construction adouble row of clamping-bolts is employed, and the fish-plates arepreferably corrugated inward at about their middle, as seen at m, tocome in contact with the vertical web and form additional bearings forthe fish-plates when the same are tightened up.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim- I l. In railway-railjoints, the combination of the abutting ends of the rails, a basewedgeplate fitted to the under sides of said abutting ends of the rails,said base wedge-plate being beveled on its under side and thinnedgradually toward its edges, fish-plates applied to each side of theabutting rails with theirupper edges bearing against the under side ofthe tread of the rail and having footpieces of the same length as thefish-plate and base Wedge-piece, said footpieces bearing on the upperside of the foot of the rail and extended around the outer edge thereofbeneath the base wedge-plate and having their upper sides beveled toconform to the bevel of the Wedge# plate, and clampingbolts passedthrough said fish-plates and rails for uniting the parts, substantiallyas described.

2. In railway-rail joints, the combination of the abutting ends of therails, a fish-plate applied to each side thereof with its upper edgebearing on the under side of the tread of the rail and having afootpiece bearing on the upper Side of the foot of the rail and extendedaround the outer edge thereof to the under side with a beveled upperside, at its inner end, a base wedge-plate fitted to the under side ofthe foot of'the rail with an upward flange at one side and havingbeveled under sides engaging the beveled sides of the under parts of thefootpieces, and clamping-bolts passed through said fish-plates and railsfor uniting the parts, substantially as described.

3. In railway-rail joints, the combination of f the abutting ends of therails, a fish-plate ap plied to each side thereof with its upper edgebearing on the under side of the tread of the rail and having afootpiece bearing on the upper side of the foot of the rail and extendedaround the outer edge thereof to the under side with a beveled upperside at its inner end, a base wedge-plate :fitted to the under side ofthe foot of the rail with downturned corners to engage the lower side ofthe footpiece and having beveled under sides engaging the beveled sidesof the under parts of the footpieces, and clamping-bolts passed throughsaid fishplates and rails for uniting the parts, substantially asdescribed.

4. In railway-rail joints, the combination of the abutting ends of therails, a fish-plate applied to each side thereof with its upper edgebearing on the under side of the tread of the rail and having afootpiece bearing on the upper side of the foot of the rail and extendedaround the outer edge thereof to the under side with a beveled upperside at its inner end, a base wedge-plate fitted to the underside of thefoot of the rail with an upward fiange at one side and with downturnedcorners at the opposite side to engage the lower side of the footpieceand having beveled under sides engaging the beveled sides of the underparts of the footpieces, and clampingbolts passed through saidfish-plates and rails for uniting the parts,l substantially asdescribed.

5. In railway-railjoints, the combination vof the abutting ends of therails, a base wedgeplate fitted to the under sides of said abutting endsof the rails, said base wedge-plate being beveled on its under side andthinned gradually toward its edges, fish-plates applied to each sideofthe abutting rails with their upper edges beveled and bearing againstthe beveled underside of the tread of the rail and 9 having footpiecesof the same length as the fish-plates and base wedge-piece, saidfootpieces bearing on the upper side of the foot of the rail andextended around the outer edge thereof beneath the base wedge-plate andhaving their upper sides beveled to conform to the bevel of thewedge-plate all of said bevels having the same angle, and clampingboltspassed through said fish-plates and rails for uniting the parts,substantially as described.

FRANK C. ANDERSON. vW'itnesses:

EDWARD PEoK, GUS HAMrsoN.

